Artemis Lupine- The Complete Series

by Catherine Banks

  Ares lifted his head out from under his pillow and lifted a brow at Victor.

  Victor smiled and said, “I am fully in control of myself now.”

  “Are you going to tell me what happened?” Ares asked.

  I was right!

  Victor sat in the chair beside Beatrice and sighed, “Another time. Let’s not get anyone else riled up before we get to the fight.”

  “The troops are ready,” Zeus said as he entered the room.

  “Just once, I’d like a room where people didn’t pop in unannounced or whenever they wanted,” I muttered.

  Ares sat up and kissed my cheek. “Soon enough, we will be on our way to our own house where no one but our family of three will be.”

  “As if you could keep me away,” Beatrice said and scoffed with arms folded across her chest, leveling Ares with a challenging glare.

  “The dragons have arrived outside the mound,” Koda announced as he entered the room. “Artemis, I need you to go greet them.” He looked taller and bigger, but I knew he had not grown, and it was simply because he was the Alpha now. Despite still being angry at him, I had to admit he looked good, and being Alpha seemed to suit him.

  I gritted my teeth and closed my lips tightly to keep from baring them at him. “I will get dressed and go see them,” I said in a clipped tone.

  Koda softened and became the friend and packmate I remembered. “Artemis, please don’t be mad at me.”

  I did not answer him and instead, handed Cratus to Ares and walked to the bathroom to get ready.

  After the war was over, Koda and I would talk, but until then I needed to stay away from him, or I would punch him in the face…a few times.

  Victor chuckled, and I sighed, knowing I was being childish again.

  I braided my hair and got dressed into the battle gear that Hephaestus had made me. I was thankful for being a preternatural and being completely healed and recovered from giving birth already.

  Tears built up in my eyes, and I wiped them away quickly. It was harder than I thought to think about leaving Cratus, but I had to do it. I had to end this war and right the balance between all of the races. Beatrice would protect him and take great care of him, and hopefully it would not be too long before I returned and was able to hold him again.

  Ares walked inside the bathroom and hugged me. “You don’t have to go,” he whispered. “You could stay with Cratus here, where it’s safe.”

  I hugged him back and kissed his cheek. “You know I won’t do that.”

  He sighed. “I know, but I had to try.” We stayed in the bathroom holding each other for another minute, and then reluctantly separated.

  I walked out to Beatrice who was still holding Cratus and took him for one last snuggle. I hugged him tightly and kissed his forehead. “Mommy loves you, Cratus. I’ll be back soon.”

  Cratus looked at me in silence and I felt tears building again. I inhaled his scent, memorizing it and the feel of his baby soft skin, and then handed him back to Beatrice.

  “I’ll protect him with my life,” she said, cradling him against her chest.

  I nodded and left the room without another word, afraid that if I said anything else, I would not leave. I grabbed my bow and arrows as I walked out, slinging them over my back.

  Koda followed me, but I ignored him and headed to the portal. We walked up the stairs, and I composed myself to face the dragons. My heart still hurt from the loss of Fira, but now was not the time for sadness. Now was the time for fierceness and battle.

  I stepped from the portal and found fifty dragons waiting in the field. Stunned, I walked to Blu.

  Blu wrapped his long neck around me in a hug, humming softly. “Hatchling, you look well. How is your child?”

  “He is beautiful and perfect,” I said with a wide smile. “He will stay with his grandmother while we destroy the vampire king.”

  “Thank you for coming,” Koda said. “The werewolves and the alliance appreciate your assistance with this fight.”

  Blu looked at Koda a moment and then at me. “You are no longer Alpha?”

  I shook my head. “Koda is now the Alpha of the Werewolves.”

  Blu dipped his head to Koda. “I did not know.”

  “I will go check on everyone else and let you know when we are ready to head out,” Koda said. He looked at me a moment, words on his lips and a sad frown on his face, but then he strode back into the portal without a word.

  “I did not know you and your packmember had had a falling out,” Blu whispered.

  “It’s nothing worth discussing,” I said and waved dismissively. “Did you leave enough dragons to guard the Hive?”

  He nodded. “The Hive is well guarded.”

  “Good. When we arrive at the vampire’s castle, I need your dragons to burn and destroy as much of the building as possible. You and I will go to Maurice’s chamber and search for the Pegasus egg.”

  “It may have hatched already,” Blu said with a growl. “The demon spawn may already have the baby in his hands.”

  “Then I shall cut his arms off and take the baby from him.”

  Blu roared in approval, and the other dragons roared with him.

  Ares stepped through the portal but stopped at the sight of the roaring dragons. I held out my hand, and he walked slowly towards me, lifting a brow.

  “Everyone is ready,” he said once he took my hand.

  I hugged him and kissed his lips softly. “Stay safe,” I whispered.

  He nuzzled behind my ear, and we inhaled each other’s scents. “I love you.”

  I hugged him tighter. “I love you too, Ares.”

  He pulled back and looked at Blu. “I leave her in your capable claws. Please, keep her safe while we are apart.”

  Blu bowed his head. “I shall protect her like she is my own.”

  Ares kissed me again and then stepped into the portal.

  It had been incredibly hard to convince him to fight separately, but I had finally won the argument when I had reminded him that he was needed to kill as many vampires as possible. Plus, I would be with Victor, Apollo, and Blu and with the three of them beside me I was sure to survive. I thought of Achilles and cringed. This fight would be different.

  Apollo and Victor stepped out of the portal.

  Apollo wore armor similar to mine. He smiled and said, “Hephaestus thought it would be fitting if the two of us had matching armor since we’re twins.”

  “It looks good on you,” I said with a smile.

  “Ready?” Victor asked.

  I took a long, deep breath before answering. “Yes.”

  Apollo took my hand and smiled reassuringly at me. “Let’s kill some vampires, Sister.”

  I nodded, set a hand on Blu to teleport him, and closed my eyes as the other dragons who had the ability to teleport began humming. I opened my eyes after we arrived and found Hera standing at the front of the fight beside Zeus and Ares with the rest of our army behind them.

  The dragons took to the skies and Apollo, Victor, and I joined them, circling around the top of our army.

  The vampires were standing in formation across the field from our army, fear on their faces despite the fact that they still outnumbered us two to one.

  “Tonight, we fight to end the false king’s reign,” Ares bellowed. “Tonight, we fight for our lost brothers and sisters. We fight to end the slaughter of the humans who cannot protect themselves. When this battle ends, the world will be rebalanced and all shall be equal. Humans, Sidhe, vampires, werewolves, elves, dwarves, ogres, and halfbreeds will all be equal! Kill all who oppose us. Kill them all!”

  Our army cheered, screamed, roared, and howled. Then they all flew across the field into the waiting vampires, tearing into them before they were ready to start fighting.

  “Now,” I screamed.

  Blu roared, and twenty of the dragons flew over the field. Starting at the vampires who were not yet engaged by our army, the dragons made a wall of flames that none could escape. The
y burned the vampires and any who stood with them as they flew towards the castle. In seconds, a third of the vampire army was destroyed. The rest of the dragons, Apollo and I headed to the castle.

  The dragons began spitting out fireballs which grew hard as they flew and broke the castle everywhere it landed. Archers began to shoot at the dragons, so Apollo and I broke away, shooting them back with our sun-tipped arrows. Vampires exploded into ash as we shot them, and soon there were no more archers firing upon the dragons.

  “There,” I shouted as I pointed at the part of the castle where Maurice’s chambers were and where Victor was standing on top of the building.

  Blu spit a fireball straight at Victor who jumped out of the way. The fireball made the roof collapse, and we dropped into the giant room.

  Maurice stood up from his throne and his eyes widened at the sight of Blu. “What are the dragons doing here?” he asked.

  “Ensuring the world is returned to its rightful balance,” Blu said. “And to watch you die.”

  Maurice held an egg in his hands.

  I growled at him. “Give me back my egg.”

  He smiled. “This is my dragon egg.”

  “It’s not a dragon,” Victor said.

  Maurice looked at Victor, noticing him for the first time. “My own son is here to fight against me.”

  “You killed her, and you thought I would forgive that and come to your side?” Victor asked with a snarl. “You’re psychotic.”

  “You should have never taken that damn halfbreed’s side!” Maurice yelled, pointing a finger at me.

  “Your reign is over,” Victor said. “It is time that I take the throne from you.”

  “You’ll have to kill me first,” Maurice hissed.

  “I intend to,” Victor said with a smile.

  I darted forward at the same time as Apollo, as we tried to take the egg from Maurice.

  Several vampires poured into the room from the side door and interrupted us. I turned my fingers into claws and began tearing into the vampires, ripping their heads off as I went.

  “Back!” Blu shouted.

  I grabbed Apollo and teleported back behind Blu as he doused the room in flames, killing all of the vampires who had come inside. Maurice and Victor fought to the right of the room, steering clear of the fire. Victor knocked the egg out of Maurice’s hand, and I teleported to him, grabbed the egg, and teleported back to Apollo. “Protect Blu. I’m going to teleport this to the Sidhe realm and then I’ll be right back.”

  Apollo nodded. I teleported to Ares’ and my chambers, set the egg down in one of the chairs and smiled at Beatrice. “Guard this, too. It’s a gift for Cratus from the dragons.”

  She nodded, cradling Cratus in her arms. I closed my eyes and teleported back to the battle.

  Apollo fought a group of vampire-sidhe who were flying above Blu, trying to shoot him with arrows.

  I used my sunlight magic, turning them all to ash.

  “Thank you,” Blu said and then blew out a jet of flames through the door as vampires began to surge inside.

  “You alright?” I asked Apollo.

  He nodded, gasping for air. “Just catching my breath.”

  Victor and Maurice were still battling it out, and it looked like an even match. I wanted to help him in some way but did not want to end up hurting Victor in the process.

  What could I do? How could I help him?

  “Artemis!” Apollo yelled.

  I spun around and ducked just in time to avoid an arrow aimed at my chest. Apollo returned fire, hitting the vampire with his arrow and turning him to ash.

  That had been too close for comfort.

  “Apollo, fly up and check on the other dragons,” I said.

  He obeyed instantly, flying upwards out of the hole in the ceiling.

  “Are you okay?” I asked Blu. He nodded, and I flew up and out to the battle where Ares was tearing vampires apart in his half-shift. I flew down to him and joined in the battle.

  “You’re unhurt,” he yelled so I could hear him. “I’m surprised.”

  “It’s still early,” I teased him.

  He growled in response, and we took a moment to smile at each other before resuming our vampire killing spree.

  It seemed strange that these vampires were so easy to kill. Were they all new? Had Maurice turned others just to increase his numbers for battle?

  That wouldn’t surprise me. He didn’t view others as equals, but as pawns for his use.

  After a bit, when there were fewer vampires around Ares and me, I teleported to Lyngvi and was happy to see a pile of dead vampires with Koda standing next to them in his half-shift, and children walking around unhurt.

  “Everything went well?” I asked him.

  He turned and his eyes raked my body, looking for wounds. “Yes. No one was hurt.” He walked towards me with shaking hands.

  I had mine behind me so he would not see the fists I was making.

  “Good,” I said.

  “How is the battle going?” he asked, stopping a little ways away.

  “Still going. I have to get back.” I started to teleport, and he grabbed my wrist.

  “When are we going to talk?” he asked me, pleading with his eyes.

  I turned my head to avoid his eyes and whispered, “I don’t know.”

  “Artemis, I—”

  I jerked my hand away and teleported back to Blu.

  Was it sad that the battle against the vampires was easier for me than my warring emotions about Koda? Part of me wanted to rip him apart for threatening Ares and for fighting him, while the other part of me wanted to forgive him and go back to being friends, before he told me he loved me, before it had all gone sour.

  Blu was still fighting vampires, but he was definitely winning. In fact, he looked bored. I stood next to him and watched Victor and Maurice fight. I could hardly keep track of them.

  Victor hit Maurice somehow and it hurt him enough that he stopped and put a hand against his ribs.

  “You’ll never defeat me!” Maurice screamed at Victor.

  Victor ducked under his father’s attack and then shoved his hand into his chest, grabbed ahold of his heart, and ripped it out. “You lost the moment you touched Anabelle.”

  Anabelle? Who was Anabelle?

  Maurice’s eyes widened and then he fell to the ground.

  Victor squatted down and tore apart his father into small pieces . Once finished, he backed away and looked up at Blu. “Would you please torch him to ashes so that I may scoop up the remains and scatter him around the world?”

  For someone who had just torn a being apart into tiny pieces, he was rather calm.

  Blu exhaled a jet of flame onto the dismembered body until it was all ash.

  Victor scooped up the ashes, putting them inside a clear vial, which he then put inside a leather pouch that smelled of sage and rosemary mixed with something faintly smelling like blood. He tied the pouch shut and held it in front of his face. “It was a long reign, Father, but you should have known it would come to this.”

  Apollo dropped down and said, “The vampires stopped fighting everywhere, even in the locations across the world.”

  Victor smiled. “The war is over, and a new king has taken the throne.” Victor looked at me and said, “You will never have to worry about the vampires again.”

  It seemed too easy. It seemed like it had ended too quickly to be real.

  Victor placed his hand on my shoulder and whispered, “It is over. With your help, I learned to love, and having that love taken away from me prompted my decision to kill Maurice.” He kissed my cheek and said, “You are right, there is no reason that every race cannot live together peacefully, and we should remember that we were once humans as well. Come, let’s go speak to the world.” He took my hand and I flew up into the air and out to the field where the two sets of troops stood facing each other uneasily.

  I landed in the center, and Ares rushed out to me. “Are you hurt?” he asked, looking
me over.

  I took his hand and kissed his cheek. “I’m perfectly fine.”

  “Selene,” Victor called.

  She stepped from our battalion and approached Victor. “Yes?”

  “Would you mind creating a global broadcast?” he asked.

  She took a big breath and then spit into her hand.

  Victor cocked an eyebrow and stared at her with an expression of confusion, which made me smile and laugh softly.

  Selene drew a square on her hand in the spit and then held her hand up into the air. She chanted a spell I had never been able to master, and a large square appeared in front of Victor. “You may begin,” she said.

  Victor looked into the square and began his speech. “The world has been living in darkness, overshadowed by the preternaturals’ desire to rule over the humans and subjugate them as they had done to us. The former King of the Vampires killed any who opposed him or any who he viewed as a possible threat. That king is dead. I, Victor, am the new King of the Vampires. As king, I vow to work with the Council of Beings to create a world where everyone can live peacefully together, including humans. From this moment on, there will be no more war.”

  Everyone cheered, throwing their hands up into the air or hugging each other.

  Victor cleared his throat, and everyone calmed down again. “Any vampire who attacks another being, unprovoked, will answer to me, and I will not take it lightly. From now on, I own all vampires and you will all listen to me.”

  “Actually, we own everyone,” said a female voice.

  All eyes turned to face a woman of immense beauty and power with a man of equal attractiveness and power beside her. She looked out over the crowd until her eyes settled on me. “Hello, Artemis.”

  Ares appeared at my side and dropped to one knee, bowing to the two. “Greetings, Rhea and Hyperion.”

  Rhea smiled and the man Ares had called Hyperion folded his arms across his chest.

  Rhea said, “Greetings, Son. Rise.”

  Ares stood and took a small step in front of me, which I hoped the visitors did not understand meant he was trying to protect me from them.

  “I see that you were able to save your mate,” she said and smiled sweetly.